Women's Lacrosse

Women's Lacrosse Set to Open Tuesday

March 14, 2011

NORTH DARTMOUTH, MA-After earning the sixth seed and advancing to the Little East Conference Tournament for the 10th consecutive time last season, the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth's women's lacrosse team hopes to continue their improvement this season. The Corsairs will open their 2011 season when they play New England College Tuesday in West Palm Beach, FL.

"We expect to be an improved team this year, based on improvement from last year for our returning veterans," said UMass Dartmouth Head Coach Jerry Jennings. "With the return of (junior midfielder) Allison O'Rourke (Weymouth, MA/Weymouth HS) and our two senior captains and LEC All-Stars, (midfielders) Larissa Basque (Plainville, MA/King Philip HS) and Sam Wonson (Lowell, MA/Lowell HS), we should be better. We also have an improved situation in goal, with (sophomore) Angelina Donovan (Medford, MA/Medford HS) coming in as the starter."

Jennings expects contributions from a variety of other sources. "We have an outstanding freshman in (attacker) Taylor Corsano (Bourne, MA/Bourne HS)," said Jennings. "We return (junior defender) Casey Otovic (Wilmington, MA/Bishop Fenwick HS), our Most Improved Player for the last two years. She's only the second player to win that award two years running. (Sophomore attacker) Brittany Enos (East Falmouth, MA/Falmouth HS) returns from an injury last year.

Newcomers will also make their presence felt. "Senior Stephanie Kinchla (Falmouth, MA/Falmouth HS/Quinnipiac), who has had an outstanding field hockey career here, was an outstanding lacrosse player in high school, and has looked good in practice. (Sophomore) Denise Gates (Feeding Hills, MA/ Agawam HS) will be a very good player at midfield, and we have a host of people looking to fill in the gaps and get as much playing time as they can. I foresee a very competitive season."

The Little East Conference is tough, but Jennings feels that the Corsairs will do well. "I think we'll be improved in the conference, and I'm looking for us to be in the top tier this year," said Jennings. "We should be much improved over last year. Last season, we were hurt by injuries, but this year, everyone is healthy and we're looking to move up. We're looking forward to our opener in Florida."